Überfall in der Teufelsschlucht

There is an army campaign in the offing, and Hopalong Cassidy and the boys of the Bar 20 are anxious to serve. They're not wanted for fighting. The army needs 500 mustangs, and Hoppy is the man to round them up. However, others are not as patriotic, and that many horses at $20 a head across the border is mighty tempting.

At 58 minutes, this is definitely a B Western, but producer Harry Sherman was a man who knew how to make a superior one. Sound man Karl Zint makes the horses in an echoing box canyon sound spooky, and cameraman Russell Harlan distinguishes the visuals with some striking vitsas of Arizona's Blue Canyon and the Painted Desert.

Harlan was born in 1903. By 1927, he was doing photography for William Wellman on WINGS. He had achieved the rank of cinematographer in 1937, and would eventually do that job on 44 of the Hoppies. In 1945, he started to move up the ranks, when Wellman used him as DP on A WALK IN THE SUN. Although he would be a favorite for A Westerns -- RED RIVER, THE BIG SKY and RIO BRAVO -- he became well-known for a wide variety of projects and would rack up nominations for six Best Cinematography Oscars. He retired in 1970 and died four years later.